Chapter 51
Chapter 51
Villain Hunting - 2
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“Huh?”
Renia, who was waiting outside the building's entrance, tilted her head with a puzzled expression.
A faint voice, barely audible, pierced through the transparent glass and reached her ears.
It was Tae-jin’s.
“…Is he fighting?”
She heightened her mana sensitivity and tried to sense what was happening inside the building.
However, because it was a research building, there were many interfering factors, making it difficult to pinpoint Tae-jin’s presence.
Renia approached the window on the north side of the building.
If there was a mana presence strong enough to threaten Tae-jin, it would have definitely been caught on her radar, so she wasn’t too worried.
She just wondered if he was having an argument with that cadet named Kim Dae-hoon.
“…No one? Nobody's there?”
It was a small, one-story building.
It was designed as a single room, so there were no hidden spaces within the building.
In other words, there was no one inside the building.
Renia had seen a cadet inside when Tae-jin opened the door and went in, so her vague question morphed into a distinct unease.
“Wh-where did he go…!”
Just in case, Renia circled the building and peered inside through the windows.
But he was nowhere to be seen.
The doors, being automatic, remained firmly shut.
“Argh! Where did he go again…!”
Renia muttered in exasperation
She had told him countless times.
As his bodyguard, and for the sake of appearances, he should tell her whenever he went somewhere.
He shouldn't disappear without a word.
He had even reiterated it just a moment ago, yet here he was….gone again.
Resentment welled up inside her.
“Ugh…! Where are you…!”
She quickly tried to track him, but there were no discernible traces.
Panic began to set in.
She suddenly remembered that time.
The time she was summoned to the academy's training grounds, only to discover a giant octopus-like monster and her master gone, leaving her to run around in tears.
If only there was some kind of sound or any sign…anything.
The fear brought on by the silence made her anxious.
“Where are you…! Where are you…!”
Renia paced back and forth in front of the entrance opposite to where Tae-jin had entered, resembling someone desperately in need of a restroom.
She decided to start running aimlessly.
At that moment…
“Renia?”
Someone called out to her.
Red hair, blue eyes.
It was Han-na, the heroine renowned for her beauty and wealth.
She approached Renia with a questioning look.
“Han-na?”
“Is Tae-jin missing?”
“Ah, well… Yes! He said he was going to talk to a cadet named Kim Dae-hoon, but now neither of them is anywhere to be…!”
“They’re not inside the building?”
“No…! He promised to tell me if he went anywhere…!”
“I didn’t see them come out either… Let’s split up and look for them. I’ll go this way.”
“O-okay! Thank you!”
Han-na started running towards the upper path of the building, and Renia ran towards the lower path, which led to the training grounds.
It was like watching an aunt searching for her lost nephew in a large shopping mall.
But Renia was no longer aware of the stares she was receiving.
To her, Tae-jin was like [Master = Baby Left by the Riverside].
Because Tae-jin attracted trouble like a magnet, she was constantly on edge, even with the smallest of variables.
And so, the two of them split up and searched the empty campus, one on the upper path, the other on the lower.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Hey-! Resistance shuttle-! Stop right there-!”
“Get lost-!!”
It was late afternoon, so the academy was mostly empty.
The cadets had all already gone home, leaving behind only the professors and their research teams.
So, there was no one to stop Kim Dae-hoon as he fled towards the back of the academy's main building.
It was a good thing.
It would be troublesome if an innocent bystander got caught in the crossfire.
Anyway, Kim Dae-hoon was a villain from the Alchemy Department, meaning his combat abilities were pathetic.
Unlike the Hunter Department, which prioritized combat training, the Alchemy Department only received basic training; the rest of their education focused on alchemy.
Therefore, it was easy to catch up to him, but Tae-jin was intentionally keeping his distance.
A fleeing person instinctively ran towards deserted areas.
Since he didn't know what kind of tricks Kim Dae-hoon might pull, it was more efficient to observe and wait for the right moment to subdue him.
Soon, he overtook Kim Dae-hoon and blocked his escape route at a point on the back mountain where there wasn't even a proper path.
This was the first principle of villain hunting, used by the original protagonist, Choi Do-han.
Cornering them into a desperate situation to force them to reveal their true nature.
If this hunt confirmed that the resistance effect drop system also applied to him, he needed to learn and internalize this [First Principle].
It was the most basic and natural principle.
Because a villain who didn't use their monster powers was no different from an ordinary Hunter, or even a regular human.
Therefore, to avoid misjudgment and unnecessary misunderstandings with the Monster Management Bureau or the Capital Guard, he had to strictly adhere to the [First Principle].
And the quicker they resorted to using their monster powers, the lower their rank was likely to be.
Having no other way to hide their identity, they would immediately resort to using their monster abilities.
Just like now.
“I said get lost-!!”
*Boom!*
A low-rank villain would resort to using their monster abilities even when just slightly cornered.
Therefore….
“Gotcha. You little rascal.”
He channeled his inner police officer and pointed his dagger at Kim Dae-hoon like a flashlight.
There was nothing to worry about now.
Kim Dae-hoon’s arms had already transformed into tentacles.
This physical transformation, which was unique to villains and nonexistent in Hunters or Holders, confirmed his identity.
And ‘tentacles.’
Among dungeon monsters, only two types used tentacles: ‘Tentacle,’ a boss from A-rank dungeons, and ‘Octopus,’ a boss from E-rank dungeons.
Both were cephalopod-type bosses, but Tentacle had thorns and maces on its tentacles, and its ability to control their length was practically unlimited, making it a difficult boss to conquer.
It also had twenty tentacle legs and rapid regeneration.
However, Octopus was literally like a one-eyed alien.
Its tentacles were thin, their length could only be adjusted to about 3-4 meters, and its attack patterns consisted only of whipping or constricting its prey.
Its special attack was wrapping its tentacles around its prey and delivering a mild electric shock.
It was a boss perfectly suited for E-rank.
If it were Tentacle, he would have immediately summoned Renia, but it was highly unlikely that the cadet who had run away at the sight of him would be that powerful.
An Octopus villain was a piece of cake.
A delicious abalone and beef porridge, to be precise.
*Swish! Swish!*
“Ugh…! Get lost! You son of a bitch-!!”
As Tae-jin effortlessly dodged his tentacle attacks, Kim Dae-hoon, seemingly consumed by rage, began wildly flailing his tentacles, now fully transformed from both arms.
But…
*Slash! Slash! Snip!*
“Aaargh-!!”
He severed Kim Dae-hoon’s tentacles with his [Cross Cutting] skill, which had significantly leveled up under Master Park Na-yeon’s meticulous guidance.
Dark blood splattered everywhere.
If it was indeed the Octopus serum, it would take a full ten minutes for the tentacles to regenerate.
In other words, the match was over.
But even if he surrendered, Tae-jin had no intention of letting him live.
He gripped his bow, nocked a magic arrow, pulled the string taut, and aimed at Kim Dae-hoon’s head.
“Shit-! I could have succeeded, you bastard-!!”
Perhaps realizing that struggling was futile,
Kim Dae-hoon roared and strapped the bomb he hadn't managed to plant in the Alchemy Research Lab to his body.
His arms had returned to their human form as he deactivated his monster ability.
“Khahaha! Illusion’s ambition will surely succeed!”
The crazy bastard, did he think he was some kind of suicide bomber?
Kim Dae-hoon let out a maniacal laugh and held up the detonator, which looked like a handle.
“Shoot me! You bastard-! The moment my finger leaves this button, the bomb will explode-!!”
“Ha, what a nuisance.”
This was why the combat methods and training of Hunters, who dealt with dungeon monsters, and Holders, who dealt with villains, were different.
Because there were too many variables.
Though he aimed precisely between Kim Dae-hoon’s eyebrows, he couldn’t bring himself to shoot.
The surroundings were quiet, but there might be civilians within the blast radius that he wasn't aware of.
But then…
“Fuck…! I’ll kill you all! Do you know what this is?! My special bomb, powerful enough to blow up an entire building…!”
*-Slice!*
Suddenly, Kim Dae-hoon’s arm was severed.
And it was the arm which was holding the detonator.
“Uh…”
Whether it was an upward slash or something else, Kim Dae-hoon’s arm momentarily hung in the air, and someone grabbed it, then tightly grasped the hand that was still clutching the detonator due to muscle stiffness.
To prevent the bomb from detonating when the stiffness wore off.
And the person who executed this skillful maneuver was none other than Han-na.
Han-na, her red hair flowing, muttered as she snatched Kim Dae-hoon’s arm,
“…You talk too much…for a pathetic villain.”
“Uh… Uh…! My, my arm-!!”
Kim Dae-hoon panicked as a fountain of black blood spurted from his severed limb.
Tae-jin immediately used [Multi-Shot] and fired three arrows into his head.
*Thwang!*
*Crack!*
*Ding*
[Villain Hunt: Success]
[You have successfully subjugated the low-rank villain ‘Octopus’].
[As you made the greatest contribution to the subjugation, you have earned a reward].
[Your resistance effect (Electricity) has increased by 4].
A hologram window appeared before his eyes.
As expected, he received a resistance effect for hunting a villain.
He still didn’t know why, but it was certain that the protagonist’s perk was now also applied to him.
And the system message was different from when he defeated the mid-rank villain, Arachne.
This message was identical to the one that appeared for the protagonist, Choi Do-han.
For mid-rank villains, [Even contributing to the subjugation grants a reward], but for low-rank villains, [Only the greatest contributor to the subjugation receives a reward].
Anyway, he now had a definite reason to start hunting villains.
Resistance effects were essential for dealing with high-ranking villains and monsters.
He gave Han-na a thumbs-up, as she tightly gripped Kim Dae-hoon’s hand to prevent him from releasing the detonator.
Although he didn’t know why she was still at the academy at this hour when everyone else had already left.
A moment later…
“Han! Tae! Jin! Mas! Ter-!!”
Renia’s furious voice echoed in his ears.
And only then did he realize.
He had broken his promise, ‘not to disappear without a word.’
…B-but shouldn’t there be exceptions considering the urgency of the situation…?
He wanted to say that, but unfortunately….
“I told you over and over! No. Matter. What. You shouldn’t disappear without telling me!”
Without a chance to protest, Renia, who had approached him, charged like an enraged buffalo, seemingly relishing the opportunity to scold him.
He felt like his eardrums were about to burst.